Twenty years on from the Vietnam War, the Americans are returning to South East Asia to help clear up the most heavily bombed country on Earth.

The U-S dropped more than two million tons of explosives on Laos in an attempt to halt communism in the region. Today, hundreds continue to be killed by the bombs that still litter the country.

This week a U-S military delegation has been visiting Laos to examine how the lethal weapons, once dropped by their B-52 bombers, can be cleared.

In its war against communism the U-S Air force dropped the equivalent of a plane load of bombs every 8 minutes for 9 years on Laos.

More than two decades later thousands of bombs remain unexploded. Every year hundreds are killed or injured by the devices.

This week, the American military returned to Laos The eight man team is here to design an aid package to help clear some of the bombs.

For both Laos and the U-S the project is politically sensitive. Ex British soldiers working on the country's only humanitarian bomb disposal project have been advising the American delegation. But they remain shocked by what the U-S military once unleashed on this land.

SOUNDBITE:

What shocks me, and it does shock me, is the indiscriminate approach of the bombing...'it doesn't matter who we kill or how we kill but we will kill someone'.

I think that was the most shocking part about coming out here. I did not realize the extent the Americans had gone into bombing one country'.

SUPER CAPTION: Steven Wilson, Mines Advisory Group

In Xieng Khouang Province more people have been killed and injured by the bombs in the past 20 years than during the actual war.

Most victims are killed outright, survivors are left to struggle in poorly equipped hospitals. This man lost his leg when he hit a bomb in his paddy field.

SOUNDBITE:(in Lao) :

When it happened I had to sell my rice field and everything we had so that I could come

to the city for treatment.

SUPER CAPTION: Bousbong Sarasas, US bomb victim

Many risk their lives for a few cents from scrap dealers. Over 40 per cent of those killed are children.

The addition of an American clearance team will help with education and training of Laos' own disposal teams. But some residents in Xieng Khouang remain wary of

Americans.

SOUNDBITE:

We are happy to see them again if they would like to come and help our people and

not just drop bombs on them like they did before.

SUPER CAPTION: Soumaly Dengcham. Lives in Xieng Khouang

While the United States now seems willing to assist in disposal, its own war dead remain the priority.

SOUNDBITE:

Our main interest here is accounting for our people still missing from the period of

the Indochina War and over the last 6 years we have built a steady relationship here in tackling that problem. That has had an overall effect on the bilateral relationship.

SUPER CAPTION: Victor Thansett, US ambassador to Laos

Both Laotian and American diplomats have long been uncomfortable about returning US forces to Laos. But the mission this time will be to diffuse the legacy that brought such bitterness.

Vietnam has been celebrating the 25th anniversary of the end of its war, and the reunification of the country.

Thousands gathered at the Reunification Palace in Ho Chi Minh city, formerly known as Saigon.

Dignitaries present included the Vietnamese prime minister, the communist party chief, and the architects of the victory over the French and Americans in 1975

Celebrations have been taking place in Vietnam of the 25th anniversary of the end of the

war, with a parade of thousands and a festival of song and speeches.

An estimated 20-thousand people gathered at Reunification Palace, the focal point of the celebrations, which were shown live on television across the nation.

The palace was decorated with a larger-than life portrait of legendary communist leader Ho Chi Minh and eight long banners saluting the victory over the United States and its South Vietnamese allies.

Representatives of the Army, Navy, Air Force and militia formed a vast semicircle on the palace lawn.

Youth groups and workers outside the circle flashed the Vietnamese flag - red, with a gold star in the centre.

In a keynote address, Ho Chi Minh Mayor, Vo Viet Thanh, looked back to the heroism of the war but focused mainly on the country's economic problems.

Looking ahead to the new millennium, he outlined the goals for the city, including a higher economic growth rate, greater efficiency in business performance and less

restrictive policies.

The men who made this day possible were there, including General Vo Nguyen Giap, the architect of victories over both the French and Americans, and General Van Tien Dung, commander of the Ho Chi Minh Campaign that toppled the old non-communist capital of Saigon on April 30, 1975.

When Saigon fell, it was renamed Ho Chi Minh City.

The dignitaries also included Communist Party chief Le Kha Phieu and Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.

Soldiers, police on motorcycles, and goose-stepping troops paraded past the

reviewing stand an hour after dawn.

They were followed by civilian marchers, bearing flags and banners of legendary communist leader Ho Chi Minh.

Viewers and marchers alike fanned themselves with paper flags on what was already a hot, sunny day.

The song, "Uncle Ho Lives in the Great Victory Day" was the theme for weekend ceremonies across the country.

Ho Chi Minh City's wide boulevards were bathed in a rainbow of the bright colors of spring - red, blue, yellow and purple.

Trees, utility poles and street corners were festooned with the flags of Vietnam and the Communist Party.

Tanks 390 and 843 crashed through the gates of what was then known as Independence Palace and the communists hoisted their flag at 11:30 a-m on that fateful day a

quarter of a century ago.

Vietnam was reunified and the building was renamed Reunification Palace, it is now a museum.

Ho Chi Minh died in 1969, he is said to have inspired the communists to fight to the last man.

All sides sacrificed heavily: 58-thousand Americans dead, along with 1.1(m) million communist fighters, more than 200-thousand South Vietnamese soldiers and nearly 2 (m) million civilians, according to official Vietnamese reports.

America's direct military intervention in Vietnam ended on January 27, 1973, when Washington and Hanoi signed the Paris Peace Agreement.

Vietnam denied accusations on Friday that it deployed naval vessels to disputed waters in the South China Sea where China positioned an oil rig earlier this month.

Coast Guard commander Ngo Ngoc Thu told a news conference in Hanoi that no Vietnamese naval vessels were in the area where China's rig 981 is positioned.

But he did confirm that vessels from the Coast Guard and Fisheries Surveillance agencies had been deployed to the location, which is near the disputed Paracel Islands.

The latest footage released by the Vietnam Coast Guard, said to have been shot on Tuesday, shows Chinese vessels using water cannon against a Vietnamese Fisheries Surveillance ship.

Vietnam is now considering taking legal action against China over the dispute, with a Foreign Ministry official telling Friday's news conference that preparations were being made for "all of the options available".

Tran Duy Hai, Deputy Director of Vietnam's National Border Committee said the country "will defend our sovereignty by all means".

"Vietnam does not rule out any peaceful measures to resolve the dispute in the South China Sea. Therefore we are preparing what is necessary for all of the options available, including taking legal action (against China)."

"Vietnam is determined to protect its sovereignty through peaceful measures. We do not want war to happen. But, as the prime minister said recently, if we are cornered, we need to defend ourselves; and we will defend our sovereignty by all means."

"The Vietnamese government once again affirms that we will take all necessary actions to guarantee the security and safety of personnel, as well as property belonging to foreign enterprises in Vietnam; and to prevent any future incidents."